FAQs

Any FAQ with an asterisk (*) has had changes effective March 18, 2020 due to COVID-19. These changes are to attempt to reduce the staff or inmates exposure. More changes could occur as this situation evolves.

How do I set up an account to visit and/or apply money to an inmate’s account?

*How does personal visitation work?

Is there contact visitation?

*Can you explain professional visits?

How do I put money into an inmates' account?

How do we receive phone calls from inmates?

How do I get a phone message to an inmate?

How do we send emails or SMS/text messages to an inmate?

How do I send an inmate mail?

How do we send an inmate books or magazines?

What items are available on the PX/Canteen?

What if the inmate doesn't have any money, how can they purchase additional hygiene items?

How do inmates get haircuts?

*What if I have been sentenced and have Huber Law?

How do I apply for being a trusty?

How do I apply for the Electronic Monitoring Program?

What is VINE?

How do I find who is currently in the Manitowoc County Jail?

What criteria are used to determine the classification of an inmate and how often is it reviewed?

How do I find out what prison an inmate was transferred to?

If someone is being held on a probation hold what is there release date?

How do I go about posting bail for someone?

Will I get the money back that I posted for someone's bail?

Are inmates represented by anyone at their bail hearings?

What do I need to know about an inmate and their court appearances?

What does it mean when someone is on a hold from another county?

What do I need to know about the Health Services Unit?

Can I make a doctor's appointment for an inmate?

What types of programs are offered at the jail?

What items does the jail provide the inmates?

What items may be dropped off at the jail?

Can I get married while in custody at the Manitowoc County Jail?

To interact with an inmate, one needs to set up and account through Inmate Canteen . For assistance please view the how to videos, under “Stuck” or call 715-690-2965.

ALL PHONES & KIOSK ARE SUBJECT TO MONITORING AND RECORDING.

Visitation is a privilege!

Video Visitation Hours

*Lobby Hours: SUSPENDED

Video from Home: (fee applies) any day of the week: 10 AM - 8 PM

The length of your visit will be a 15 period of time with a maximum of 2(two) consecutive 15 minute periods per visit.

The inmates’ classification level will determine the number of visits you are allowed per week.

They may also have 4 non-immediate family members to visit. Non-immediate includes: step-brother, step-sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, and friends.

All Visitors:

Must be approved by jail staff prior to any visits.

Must have photo ID and be checked in with jail staff. Visitation is first come, first serve.

While you are visiting from home or at the jail, you are NOT allowed to use a cellphone or an internet enabled device. You are not allowed to take pictures of the video screen. Doing so is a violation of visiting rules and you may lose your visiting privilege.

Lobby Visitors

Children must be supervised at all times. Visitors under the age of 18 will only be allowed to visit if they are immediate family, and must be accompanied by their parent or legal guardian in the visitation room. Grandparents are not considered legal guardians unless they have legal custody of the child/children.

Sitting on the counter is not tolerated and good behavior is expected.

Visits may be terminated due to disruptions, violations of rules, or safety and security violations of the jail, inmates or staff. Additionally, you may be removed from the inmate’s visitation privilege for a period of time.

Unless it is an emergency you may not leave the visitation room. If you do leave the visitation area you must re-check in with Central Control.

DO NOT CALL THE JAIL TO SEE IF YOU ARE APPROVED OR IF INMATE HAS VISITATION TIME REMAINING-THEY WILL NOT GIVE YOU THIS INFORMATION!

No, all personal visitation is non-contact.

Professional visits include clergy, attorney, probation agents, social workers and counselors. These visits are held in the visitation room through the glass & phone system. They are not recorded. You will be assigned a phone station. Once the inmate arrives to the phone station, the inmate will pick up their phone and dial “1, 2”. Your phone will display 3 white circles below the numbers – once that appears, pick up your phone and begin the conversation. If you have any paperwork for the inmate to sign inform the officer in central prior to the visit. Visiting hours are daily. The times are as the following:

9:00am-11:00am 12:30pm-4:30pm 6:30pm-8:00pm

You are expected to properly plan for the amount of time you need, as the times will be strictly adhered to. This means you will be expected to leave at the end time for visitation or when requested. The jail operations rely on timing for safety and security of the jail. There will be emergent situations that arise. In order to protect you and others in the jail you may be asked to discontinue the visit until the matter can be resolved.

In order for a clergy person to have a one on one visit with an inmate they will need to be pre-approved and attend an orientation meeting with jail administration or their designee. In order to process this information you will need to provide us with a photo I.D. and your Pastoral card from an accredited church. Jail Administration will notify you when and if you are approved.

Attorneys must present their bar card and photo I.D. prior to any visits. Counselors must provide a photo I.D. and an employee work I.D. prior to any visits.

The Jail has a lobby kiosk which is used to deposit money into an inmate's account. This kiosk accepts cash or Master Card/Visa/Discover ($150.00 max per credit card transaction with a total of $750 per 30 day period). You can add money to the inmate account remotely (from your device). Money orders/cashier’s checks will need to be mailed to the inmate.

There are phones located in the cellblocks for their use. All phone calls are collect calls, unless the inmate has purchased phone time with funds from their commissary account, which will allow them to call direct. There is a 15 minute time limit set per phone call. The inmate will need to redial each time the conversation has been terminated. To set up an account or for any other phone problems you are experiencing you can call Securus at 1-800-844-6591 or visit their website.

No messages will be passed on to an inmate. You will need to contact them through the mail/ email/ video visit. You may want to set up a number and time of day for them to call you. If there is nothing new then don't accept the call.

Follow the instructions, after setting up your account. ALL incoming/ outgoing correspondences are scanned by a third party service provider and/or Manitowoc County Jail staff before transmission is complete. If a correspondence is flagged (contains questionable verbiage/ content), it will be denied.

Make sure you put their full name on the envelope. The address to send mail to:

Your full legal name and return address must also be on the envelope or it will not be delivered to them. Any letter that does not contain a return address will be placed in their property for them upon their release. If there is no name but a return address, the letter will be returned to that address, the same as returning it to the sender.

Soft covered books may be purchased and mailed directly from an on-line book store only. Books or magazines dropped off at the front counter will not be accepted. Magazines are by subscription only. An inmate can only possess 4 (books or magazines) in their cellblock. Books or magazines that contain nudity, sexual acts, gang related material, or any other materials that may disrupt the safety or security of the jail are not allowed.

An inmate must have $1.00 or less in his account for 5 days to be considered indigent. An indigent county inmate may order indigent hygiene items each week. In addition to the hygiene items they may order writing materials and envelopes.

The inmate must submit a request for a haircut to the bookkeeper. They will then be placed on the haircut list if they have enough funds. The inmate must be here one month to be eligible for an indigent haircut. Subsequent indigent haircuts may be requested after 30 days from the previous haircut. All qualifying indigent inmates will be billed for in-house haircuts at the time of the cut. Indigent means you have $1.00 or less in your trust account for at least 5 days.

IF YOU ARE REPORTING IN WITHIN THE NEXT 30 DAYS, YOU MAY CONTACT YOUR ATTORNEY TO PETITION THE COURTS TO HAVE YOUR REPORT DATE CHANGED. THESE ORDERS TAKE TIME TO PROCESS SO DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO CONTACT YOUR ATTORNEY. THE JAIL CANNOT CHANGE THE REPORT DATE.

IF YOUR REPORT DATE HAS NOT BEEN CHANGED BY THE COURTS AND YOU ARE ACTIVELY WORKING, YOU MUST CONTACT THE HUBER OFFICER TO SET-UP ELECTONIC MONITIORING (IF ELIGIBLE) PRIOR TO YOUR REPORT DATE . If YOU DO NOT, YOU WILL NOT BE GRANTED HUBER LAW AS IN-CUSTODY HUBER HAS BEEN SUSPENDED.

You can either pick-up a Huber Packet in the jail lobby brochure stand or print one by going to the Huber Law section of our website. Complete the forms in the packet, and then contact the Huber Officer at (920) 683-4945 to set up an appointment, to process your paperwork and educate you before your report in date.

Once in custody you must submit a request slip to the trusty coordinator requesting to be a trusty. You must be serving a sentence not less than 30 days in order to apply. Each request will be handled or approved on a case by case basis. Trusty duty is a privilege and not a right.

If you are sentenced to 22 days or more you may be required to complete 20% - 30% of your sentence in the jail prior to being placed on the program. SCRAM Continuous Monitoring works with a land line phone service or internet provider. An application can be obtained from the brochure stand in the jail lobby or by printing one (see Electronic Monitoring Program) off our website, complete, and return to the jail.

VINE is a free, 24-hour service that allows you to check on the status of offenders in the custody of the Wisconsin County Jail System, and to register for automated notification when an offender’s custody status changes or is released.

It is based on the type of current and past crimes they are charged with or have been found guilty of. It is also based on their previous history and disciplines while in custody. Their initial classification will not take place until they have been in custody for 72 hours. After their initial classification it will come up for review.

They have no release date until their probation agent sends a cancellation of the hold. The jail has no advance knowledge of when this is going to happen. You would have to refer all questions to their probation agent. The local probation office phone number is (920) 683-4590.

You must be 18 years or older and a photo ID.

Cash (exact change), credit card, money order or cashier check are all acceptable forms of bail. There is a 3% convenience fee for using a credit card.

Money order or Cashier check will only be accepted up to $1,000.00.

Money order or cashier check must contain the complete name, date of birth, driver’s license, current address and phone number of the person who is posting the bail.

If you are posting bail in Manitowoc on another agencies case, you can only use cash (exact change) or credit card.

Wire transfers for Manitowoc County cases only – Can be done during business hours with the Manitowoc County Clerk of Courts. Please contact them for details – 920-683-4025.

Not necessarily, if the defendant fails to show up for court the monies could be forfeited or could be used to pay fines and court costs.

All inmates are given the opportunity to speak with, and be represented by, a public defender at their bail hearings. The courts will provide an interpreter if they do not speak English.

Persons brought in on new charges or warrants will make a bail hearing at 12:45 pm the next business day following their arrest. The public may view the bail hearings from Room B-15 in the basement of the Manitowoc County Courthouse, 1010 South 8th Street. The inmate will appear via video from the jail.

For those inmates that do not have their own attorney for their bail hearing, the State Public Defender may represent them in court. The Public Defender comes to the jail to interview inmates that are scheduled for a bail hearing that day.

Do Not Call the jail after the bail hearing to find out if or when an inmate is to be released. If the court grants an inmates release after the bail hearing, the releasing process will only begin once all bail hearings are completed for that day, after the Clerk of Court has completed all release paperwork, and after it has been reviewed with the inmate(s) getting released. The jail priorities and staffing also plays a part in the timeliness of their release.

Jail uniforms will be worn for court appearances. The exception to this is if the inmate has a jury trial or the inmate has Huber Law and going to court without an officer escort.

The court schedules all court appearances for individual inmates. To find out dates and times please contact the Clerk of Circuit Court at (920) 683-4030 or log onto Wisconsin Courts.

Inmates, family, or friends are not allowed to pass things to each other during court. Visitation with the inmate shall not take place during the court hearing.

This means that we are holding the inmate for that agency. They are held here until the agency comes to pick them up for transport to their facility.

Refer to the Health Services Unit page for information regarding the guidelines you will need to know about medical care during your incarceration.

No. All medical, eye, and dental appointments must be made through the Health Services Unit. The HSU will coordinate any appointment(s) and transportation with correctional staff if needed.

Group programs such as bible study, AA/NA, Life Skills, LTC college prep and adult basic education – GED/HSED are offered to inmates that are minimum and medium classification. It is the inmates responsibility to sign up or request these opportunities. Maximum or high medium classified inmates will not allowed to participate in these group activities.

All inmates are provided with 7 sets of underwear, t-shirts, bras, and socks to wear while inside the jail facility. They are issued an initial hygiene package upon their booking. The hygiene package contains a toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, shampoo, and a comb. Any additional supplies ordered off of PX/Canteen will be charged to the individual inmates account.

You may drop off (non-expired) prescription medications in the original bottles only, no narcotics. You can also drop off glasses with soft case, contacts, and dentures. Clothing may be dropped off for Huber inmates to wear out to work, or for an inmate to wear to his/her jury trial.

Weddings may be allowed while a person is incarcerated in the Manitowoc County Jail when the proper requirements are met. It is the inmate's responsibility to make a written request to Jail Administration so the proper action can be taken.